


A family torn apart.

by IceBreeze



Series: Zombie AU [2]
Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:18:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5926528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBreeze/pseuds/IceBreeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt had thought nothing could break apart a family like the foxes. (Oh, how wrong he was).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A family torn apart.

**Author's Note:**

> [e_cat's](http://archiveofourown.org/users/e_cat/pseuds/e_cat) comments gave me feelings and I had to write them before I broke.  
>  The ships are very minor, by the way.

When they finally arrived in Columbia, Matt’s heart was heavy in his chest, hands clammy with sweat and crusted blood as he gripped the weapon in his hands and his breathing felt too loud. Everything felt too loud. It was like being shoved headfirst into a horror movie, not knowing what was toeing too close to the line and what would finally brink the age, bringing a horde of zombies (it felt wrong to use the word, when it felt like only minutes had passed since their only worries had been school and exy. It felt like an execution, as they had once been _human_ ) down upon them, too many to even think about fighting and they’d all be dragged into hell like the world had always wanted. Like it had always tried.

_(For once, it seemed to be succeeding)._

There was only a few of them left, the foxes whittled down to four (seven, he told himself. Seven. The other three couldn’t be dead, not when they had Andrew with them. He’d keep them safe). 

Dan had been one of the first to go. She was one of the original victims, the ones who hadn’t been bitten, but had contracted an infection or virus of some sort that killed them in minutes (because thought they were still moving, there was nothing alive in their eyes). It had been quick and cruel and unreal. One minute they’d been laughing together, drinking and kissing as they spoke about everything (the past, the present and the future they thought they’d have). It had just been the two of them, with Allison and Renee having their own time in the next room (they’d all wanted a moments peace, a moment to bond whilst the rest of the team was out), the next she was lost forever, with dead eyes and an instinctual need to kill. There wasn’t even a warning, no time to come to terms with it or chance to say _goodbye, I love you, I’m sorry I have to do this_ before she had suddenly frozen, blood, bile and pus spewing from her mouth as she bent over double. The bottle in her hand had slipped as she lost her grip, alcohol and glass flying across the floor in a crash that echoed through his mind to this very moment as she coughed and coughed and coughed. He’d gone to her, tried to help her and find out what was the matter, but she’d pushed him away, told him no, she didn’t feel right and to get away quickly because _something was happening_ and whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. 

_(Why was it never good?)_

Renee and Allison had walked in at that moment, the sound of the bottle breaking alerting them to the situation and they had just stopped at his side, confusion, worry and dread growing colder and heavier with each passing second. For a moment, a brief moment, he’d thought that it’d be fine, that she just had food poisoning and of course it wasn’t anything serious because this was _Dan_. Then she’d looked up and Matt had felt something break in him as her normally fierce eyes were unfocused and empty, like someone had taken her spirit and left her as an empty husk for them to use and twist to their sick, violent means. 

_(Which, if he thinks about it, they had)._

Then she lunged and everything after that had been a blur of adrenaline and grief that had raged through his mind and his veins, wiping out everything but Dan and the not unfamiliar struggle of life and death. He remembered snippets- small pieces of a nightmare- but his next clear memory was of the exy racquet gripped tightly in his hand, Dan’s body limp on the floor as her crushed skull leaked with the same blood that covered him and of the sound of sobs that he barely registered as his own.

_(He hadn’t let go of the racquet since)._

They’d searched the news after that, hoping to find out what was going on (and ward away the grief, because few of them handled it well) but all it said was _‘there’s a highly dangerous epidemic, please barricade your houses and arm yourselves whilst we get everything under control.’_ It was a dead end, so they’d turned to their phones, ringing everyone they knew. Some answered. The majority went to voicemail and every time that happened, Matt’s blood went cold as his mind went over the possibilities of what if. 

Eventually, they had dialed Coach and after a few tense moments he picked up. And thank god, because Coach could lead them. Coach had helped them so many times before, he wasn’t about to stop now. He told them what was happening, he told them what to do. 

_(Pack supplies and weapons. Get with whoever you can, but don’t wait too long  to get the hell out of there. Go to Columbia and whoever is alive can regroup there. Don’t die)._

The orders came as a relief, something to follow among the chaos and turmoil that was happening. They packed and waited, deciding on a deadline that they’d have to leave by. Only Kevin came, ragged and stained with empty eyes as he muttered, ‘ _Thea,’_ over and over, still trapped in the memory of what happened. They said nothing, because there was nothing they could say and when they finally set off in his truck, it was with worried minds and pained hearts. They’d burned Dan’s body, unable to bury her but not willing to leave her there, alone.

_(They tried not to think about what could have happened to Aaron and the rest of the team)._

But amongst the people they would lose, Matt never would have put Neil and Andrew. Those two were survivors. They were strong and neither would let anything happen to the other, not when they’d fought so hard to stay alive and together. He’d believed they were the two they would not have to worry about.

_(Of course they’d be fine. They hadn’t survived through so much to die here)._

Which is why, when they entered the house only to be greeted by Nicky’s body lying there, he felt his heart sink deeper than he thought possible as his mind screamed _No_. 

And then Andrew came charging out of the darkness, skin rotting and teeth bared in a growl as he clawed his way towards them. They all froze, disbelief taking over because _how could Andrew be lost, when he was invincible?_ Kevin had flinched back and the movement caught his attention, course veering towards him. Matt had begun to panic because he wouldn’t make it in time and then Kevin would end up like Dan and _that couldn’t happen_. 

_(They couldn’t lose anymore, not when they’d already lost so much)._

Renee was the first to recover, stopping Andrew’s attack with her weapon and beginning to drive him back, aiming for the head with deadly efficiency that only she had. 

_(And only she should use against him, as she is the one he trusts. She is one of the people he’d want to end him)._

If Andrew had been in his right mind, the fight would have been close, painfully close, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t himself at all (clumsy, slow and messy), so Renee was able to get closer and closer to the final fatal strike that would at last give him peace. They watched, transfixed by the scene as adrenaline, shock and sorrow was struck through them like lightning, when Matt suddenly felt the cold realization of _where was Neil?_

_(If one died, the other wouldn’t be far behind)._

His answer came when Neil crashed out of the same shadows as Andrew, heading towards where Renee was close to finishing Andrew and Matt couldn’t allow himself to wallow in shock and grief at how Neil had changed (the pale skin, the crushed neck, eyes as cold and empty as ice) because he knew that Neil had to be stopped now. Stopping him was for the best.

_(If Dan was here, she’d be angry for them and at them, because they didn't deserve any of this)._

He banged the racquet on the floor, feeling the weight of it in his grip and forcing Neil’s attention on to him just as Renee drove the knife into Andrew’s brain, destroying it (and him) for good. He didn’t blink as Neil lunged towards him, thin in his now ragged clothes with his eyes glaze and skin peeling away, and he finds himself thinking back to the first time they met, when Neil was still a wary boy with sunken eyes and nothing to live for, only a dufflebag to his name. Now, he had everything to live for but he couldn’t do it and it drove Matt to despair.

_(At least he’d go out with Andrew by his side)._

He raised the racquet in the air, trying not to think about when Neil had once told him that if anything would kill him, it would be exy. (The irony stung his eyes with bitter anger that it turned out like this). Because it was true, just not how they had expected it to be (not on the pitch, in an accident or a foul gone wrong, but due to a cruel lack of luck). He blinked away moisture from his eyes. Neil drew closer, speed heavily dampened by death.

_(It even took running from him)._

And then he brought the racquet down and the only thought he could form at the sickening crunch of the skull giving way was _why._

_(The foxes were a family. They put each other together, healed their wounds and taught each other how to love, how to live and how to be free.  
_

_And now that very family had been broken apart by their own hands._

_How long until there is nothing left?)_

**Author's Note:**

> Can be found on [tumblr.](http://polyhymina.tumblr.com/writings)


End file.
